Our story
likeu started as a professional networking platform called SlowBurn. The idea was simple: neurodivergent people deserve better than LinkedIn. A place where being ADHD or autistic or dyslexic isn't something you work around — it's something people get.
People signed up. They told us what mattered to them and what they were looking for. But then something happened that changed everything.
Rono, the founder, made a two-minute reel about being groomed as a teenager — part of her advocacy work in grooming awareness. Half a million people watched it. Over a thousand left comments — survivors who'd never said it out loud, parents terrified they'd miss the signs, people who just wanted to say: me too, and I don't know what to do with it.
The most vulnerable things people had ever written — posted in a place where anyone could see them, forever.
The platform didn't hold it. None of them do.
And that's when the pattern became obvious. The autistic adult searching for friends who won't judge their shutdown days. The person with long COVID who lost their entire social life. The survivor who can't talk about it the way people talk about other awful things. The parent navigating grief no one around them understands.
Same weight. Different shape.
That's what likeu became. Not just networking. Not just support. A place where Dora learns what matters to you, and finds the people who'd recognize it — and gives you a quiet room to discover what you share.
How it works
Have a conversation with Dora
A 5-minute conversation. Dora learns what matters to you, what you've tried, what's missing. No forms. No intake questions. Just a conversation.
Rono reads what you shared
Rono, the founder, personally reads every conversation and looks for someone who'd recognize what matters to you. Not identical experience — recognizable weight.
You enter a quiet room
A small private space — 2-3 people who'd recognize what you're going through. Trust builds gradually. You share at your own pace.
Trust tiers
likeu is built on the idea that trust should be the design, not just a policy. Information reveals gradually as relationships deepen.
Seed — only you see
Your full profile from Dora. Private. Your mirror.
Garden — your room sees
Display name + one-liner. What you choose to tend in the open.
Greenhouse — earned trust
More of what matters to you, in your words. Real first name. Region.
Roots — deep trust
Full profile. Mutual opt-in. The people underneath everything.
Questions
Who is Dora?
Dora is AI. She's the first person you talk to on likeu. She learns what matters to you through genuine conversation — not forms, not intake questions.
Who reads my conversation?
Rono, the founder. Personally. Every conversation. Nothing is shared outside the system without your permission.
How long does it take to find someone?
Up to 3 months. Dora stays with you during that time — checking in, reflecting together. The wait is preparation, not dead time.
Is this therapy?
No. Dora is not a therapist. likeu is not a clinical service. It's a place where people find someone who gets it. The closest analogy is a buddy system — but private, online, and trust-gated.
Does it cost anything?
Survivors never pay. The platform is sustained through other means.
Who built this?
Rono Xia — founder, grooming awareness educator, survivor. She built likeu because the most vulnerable things people had ever said ended up in places that couldn't hold them.